


Guilty of Underappreciation

by xphantomhive



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eremin - Freeform, F/M, M/M, Oneided Aruani, Platonic Arumika, Sad beginning to happy ending, Shiganshina Trio, Twoshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 05:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3163556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xphantomhive/pseuds/xphantomhive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin used to feel important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Consolation

**Author's Note:**

> I was pretty pissed about Mikasa's giving up bullshit, not going to lie.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin, feeling upset, searches for brutality (and possible consolation) from Annie Leonhart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two is finisned and will be up tomorrow.

Armin has always thought of himself to be an important part of the trio himself, Eren, and Mikasa had become — now, he isn't so sure. Mikasa doesn't think before she blurts about how she'd been ready to throw her life away, and at the time, Armin is too concerned about _everything else_ to think much further into it. But tonight, while he lays motionless in bed with the covers to his chin and Eren snoring loudly next to him, the whole ordeal plagues his mind and poisons his thoughts.

She lost Eren. In her mind, he was all she had left, her last shred of family. Without a moment of forethought, she was ready to give up because _Eren_ had died. _Eren_ was all she had been left with. All she cares about is _Eren, Eren, Eren._ And Armin likes to think because he's known the brunette for longer, he's liked more, but Armin isn't so sure of that, either.

Armin isn't sure they care for him at all.

So, rather than turning on his side and laying back-to-back with Eren in order to feed off of his warmth, the blonde gathers his sheet and sits up. He doesn't leave instantly, opts for sitting there to cry for a few seconds. Tears glisten on his red cheeks as he climbs from the bunk quietly, listening to be certain Eren is still snorting loudly — surprise surprise, he is.

Rather than staying in the boy's cabin, he pulls on his boots and wraps the sheet around his shoulders. The door slams behind him when he exits, but it hadn't woken anyone; possibly Marco, but the likeliness he'd been sleeping in the first place is slim. Even if they had awoken, no one will come for him — he takes walks in the middle of the night on a daily basis.

He treks to the girls cabin, but doesn't head to Mikasa's black hair when he sees it. Armin doesn't want her comfort — _she doesn't care._ There are an abundance of girls in here that will give him assurance, sweet talk him, but he does not want that. No, tonight, Armin wants to find brutal honesty. He glides past Krista, Sasha, and even Ymir; but halts when bleach blonde hair knifes through darkness.

Annie.

She isn't sleeping, but staring out the window. When Armin drops into her vision, she shoots straight up, covers to her chin. She mustn't be wearing a shirt — it's scalding hot in this cabin, a lack of money meaning a lack of proper AC. “What do you want, Armin?” She snaps, but it's half hearted; she caught the tears on his cheeks. Annie is always rude, but for certain people, she shows a soft side. Vulnerability. Armin is one of those people.

“Good old fashioned brutal honesty,” He whispers, as to not wake the others. She moves over and pats the space next to her, so Armin climbs into her bed and squeaks in slight shock when he's pulled into her side. He's practically cold-blooded, so being at such a close proximity won't make her any hotter. “And someone to vent my anger to.”

Annie smiles, a rare feat. “I'm all ears, blondie.”

He wants to counter that she is also blonde, but he's too upset (and tired) to do so. “When Eren “died,” Mikasa admitted that she was ready to give up because he was gone. Like he was the last thing that she cared about, the last person who cared about her — while I was on my way to see how she was. I've always thought of myself as an important part of their trio, but I'm certain they'd carry on easily without me. It isn't like they acknowledge my presence, anyway.”

Armin's crying now, and if it were anyone else Annie would tell them to suck it up and stop being a baby — but not him. She lacks the ability to admit when she cares, but Armin can tell by her eyes how much she truly does. “Wow, that's pretty fucking harsh,” She comments, and he cringes at her swearing but doesn't reprimand it. “Well, even if Ackerman and Jaeger aren't there for you, I'll make sure I am. Alright, kid?”

It feels like a one hundred pound weight has been lifted from Armin's chest. Someone cares. Someone actually cares. “Alright.”

He does not slink back to the boy's cabin, but falls asleep in Annie's bed.


	2. They're Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin knows they're sorry — he's glad.

It becomes an often occurrence from there, Armin venting his caged anger to Annie and then falling asleep in her bed, in the girl's cabin. He isn't aware when she develops feelings for him, but he does not reciprocate them — he tells her this, and even though he can tell she isn't okay with it she says she is. Because her care for him goes beyond the crush. Mikasa and Eren ignore it, for a while. Go with the flow. But Eren had never been particularly good at keeping his mouth shut, so one day, he blurts, “Why are you always sleeping with Annie in the morning?” and he shrugs.

“I've been wondering the same, Armin,” Mikasa touches his bicep — he recoils. “Why?”

Armin has come to despise loving, tender care. He shakes her hand off and stands, making his way to sit with Annie. She doesn't appear to care, but there's a change in her eyes, a spark of triumph. Mikasa and her spend the evening death glaring at one another.

That night when Armin wanders to the girl's cabin, Mikasa and Eren are there. Awake, sitting next to each other on the bed and looking at Armin with one question in their eyes — _why?_ He wants to shuffle past, but Annie is awake too, silently telling him to finally admit his rage to them, after masking it for so long.

He does.

“You guys have never cared about me,” They look ready to protest, but he cuts them off. “First of all, Mikasa was ready to throw away her life because you were gone, Eren — her “last piece of family.” Meanwhile, I was on my way to help her to safety because her tanks ran out; you only ever want to spend time with me when it's too late, when you finally fucking realize—” — there is a collective gasp at his use of obcenities — “that I've finally finished with your damn bullshit.”

Mikasa and Eren are at a loss for words, but Annie is smiling widely. She rises from her bed and hugs Armin, thoroughly taking him off guard — he eventually settles into it and returns the favor. Mikasa says nothing, rolls over in bed and pulls the cover up. Armin thinks he might hear a sniffle, but it's unlikely. Eren, however, grabs him by the wrist and tugs him roughly from the cabin. Armin lets out a string of “ows” until they stop by a riverside, and he's tugged onto the wet, mushy ground.

“Where would you get the idea we don't care?”

Armin laughs bitterly. “Well, let's see. Mikasa wanted to die because you were dead, and the two of you don't even try to pretend I exist anymore — it gets tiring, after a while. I tried to stick around because I thought, “maybe I can make them care” but you never—”

He's cut off mid-rant.

Eren's in front of him, leaning, meshing their lips together recklessly — the way he does everything. Armin doesn't return it, but is the first to pull away and wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. “You don't know how to kiss at all,” He laughs, and Eren tries for a second time — this time, it's tender and delicate. Armin is fully responsive to this one. They both break this time, for air. “Much better.”

“Okay, so, I'd like to be first to say I'm sorry — I avoided you because whenever I got near you or like, even brushed your hand I got this spark up my spine and this tingling in my hands and this pumping in my chest which really confused me, and all at once every ounce of blood in my body rushed to my face. If I ignored you none of that could happen, so I just did, and I never really thought it hurt you but apparently—”

“Eren.”

“It always did and I never meant it to, because you are literally the best person I have ever met and you are beautiful—”

“Eren!”

He stops talking — Armin is glad for that.

“That's called a crush, Eren. It's perfectly natural, and you could have told me — I return the feelings, okay? Even when I was mad at you, I always felt that way.”

They kiss again to solidify their relationship, and sit by the river holding hands. They don't move an inch, not even when the sun begins to rise over the horizon. Mikasa joins them, sitting next to Armin rather than Eren. “I'm sorry,” She murmurs. “I never meant for you to feel like that. My head wasn't clear, not at all, and eventually I realized how foolish I'd been and I apologized to Eren — but never you. I love you, you're my family, and I don't want to lose you. Never again will I let myself forget that you're my family, too. That you care about me and I care about you.”

Armin smiles and kisses Mikasa's head. She kisses his head, too. “It's okay Mikasa. I forgive you, and I love you too.” They stay by the riverbank, Armin and Eren holding hands, Armin's head on Mikasa's shoulder and her own on top of his. Annie catches sight of them and feels a tug in her chest, maybe happiness, that they've finally worked everything out. And she is perfectly willing to take the extra slack they can't complete when she makes up moronic excuses.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you're one of those people who reads all of my stuff (lol no one) I'm over halfway done with the update for The Sky Under The Sea. It will be up tomorrow.


End file.
